Sweet Potatoes Fattening or Lose weight?

If you are trying to lose weight by cutting calories, adding sweet potatoes to your diet can help you get more nutrition. Although a sweet potato contains only about 112 calories, none of them fat, it has 2 grams of protein and over 100% of your recommended daily amount of vitamin A, a nutrient that helps your eyes, bones and immune system stay healthy .

carbohydrates

Each cup of sweet potatoes provides you 28 grams of complex carbohydrates, according to the Agriculture Department. One might think that the sweet potato so fattening, but have fewer calories, slow absorbing carbohydrates and many nutrients, sweet potato you lose weight by providing extra energy and making you burn more calories between meals. The carbohydrate content helps your brain to produce glucose, which can keep you alert and energetic, avoiding the lethargy that often accompanies weight loss regimes.

Low Glycemic Index

Sweet potatoes have a low glycemic index, which means that it does not cause spikes in blood sugar levels. Diets that include sweet potatoes and other foods that have a low glycemic index help in losing weight. The low glycemic sweet potato often stabilizes sugar levels in the blood and remains healthy. Keep sugar levels healthy blood inhibits the concentration of abdominal fat. This is because sugar levels unstable blood usually lead to insulin resistance, an obesity precursor.

See too: Benefits and Sweet Potato Recipes For Weight Loss

Water High content

Finally, sweet potato loses weight due to too large amount of water found in its compound. With the exception of bone and fat, your body is composed almost primarily of water, and so it's no surprise that it responds favorably when you eat foods that contain large amounts of water. As the fibers, water occupies much space in the stomach. So eat foods that contain lots of water such as sweet potatoes will make you feel satisfied and will prevent you eat too much and eat between meals. This will help both your weight loss goals as preventing you to gain weight again.

Purple Sweet Potato

In the United States, sweet potatoes generally have a yellow or orange color, but in Asia, purple sweet potatoes are common, including especially here in Brazil. They contain compounds called anthocyanins, which have potent antioxidant properties. Researchers studied the effects of purple sweet potato in adipocytes, or fat cells, in 2011. They found that the extract caused a decrease in the secretion of leptin, a hormone that plays a role in controlling fat metabolism, indicating that the sweet potato purple can promote weight loss and prevent obesity.

substitutions

sweet potato is versatile and can be used in place of higher calorie foods. Add sweet potatoes to a soup or stew to thicken it naturally without adding fat-rich creams. Add the bread to eat something sweet that is not full of fat and calories. It can replace the starch portion of your meal as a substitute of few calories and many nutrients for potatoes, pasta or rice.

Selection and Storage

Look for small or medium potatoes, soft shell and unmarked. Avoid any with a "beard" white, a sign that the potatoes are too mature and is probably hard. Although sweet potatoes seem harsh, they are fragile and spoil easily. A cut mark on the surface or spreads quickly spoiling the whole potato. Do not put them in the refrigerator, it accelerates the deterioration.

Tips Preparation and Serving

To cook sweet potatoes, do not peel them. Leave intact bark prevents excessive loss of precious nutrients and "holds" its natural sweetness. Dry and yellow variety can be used in any recipe that use normal potatoes. The darker varieties are typically sweeter baked or cooked. Also try to smash them, put in a souffle or make a pie. Do not put sugar, because as with any food, fattening sweet potato when it adds a lot of unnecessary calories through sugar.